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Of the positions in the state expected to show the most growth over the next six years, 11 are focused on health care or training health care workers, according to data from the state Department of Workforce Development.

Filling the gap

Ben Shuda, recruitment manager for Ministry Health Care, said there's never a time when every position is full.

"Last year Ministry filled about 3,500 jobs over the course of the year and that was everything … At any given time now we typically have between 400-500 job openings," Shuda said. "Typically we make some amount of progress and with regular turnover or growth we end up losing some back, so it's a pretty constant process for us."

Shuda and David Youngquist, talent acquisition director for ThedaCare, said their organizations work with high schools in local markets to help teenagers explore careers in the medical field, and hopefully pique their interest.

The health care systems also work closely with technical colleges and universities to recruit graduates, and use social media and advertising to spread the word about open positions.

Health care providers are always looking for nurses, a need that isn't going to fade anytime soon, they said.

Medical assistants, certified nursing assistants and respiratory therapists are in high demand right now, Shuda said.

There's also a growing need for people who are considered primary care providers, but aren't MDs, people like physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

Shuda and Youngquist said a number of factors have contributed to the shortages.

Health plan changes

Since the Affordable Care Act took effect, people have become more savvy health care consumers. Shuda can see the change simply by analyzing when people come to a hospital for treatment.

"There's ultimately a change in the way health care is being delivered. We're seeing with the high deductible plans, people are not coming to the hospital anymore until they're really, really sick because they're trying to avoid paying deductibles through their health insurance," Shuda said. "We're seeing those people who do come here need a higher level of care, which means we need more nurses and more staff ultimately to take care of them."

The Affordable Care Act also provided greater access to health care, and the system has evolved partly because of the increased volume of consumers, Youngquist said.

Retirements, aging population

Baby Boomers are another factor — as health care workers and consumers.

People retiring from the medical field contribute to the shortage of qualified people in those positions. Often they take decades of experience with them.

Those retirees are part of a large segment of the population — a portion that is living increasingly longer than the generation before it and taxing the health care system in new ways.

"The aging population has created an increase in demand from consumers," Youngquist said.

Educating the next generation

Zoe Cujak, dean of Fox Valley Technical College's Health Division, has more than 30 years of experience in nursing, and said the need for nurses ebbs and flows.

"When I first got out of school … nobody was hiring because there was a glut of nurses, and then there was a shortage, then there was a glut. It goes in cycles," she said.

Both students and industry put increasing value on Fox Valley Tech's nursing, nursing assistant and medical assistant programs. While health care programs are extremely popular overall, Cujak said those three are particularly high volume.

A greater focus on preventative care has contributed to their popularity.

"More and more care is being done outside the hospital, either through day surgery, in the clinic setting, through home care, that type of thing," Cujak said. "I think as we move towards that model more so than an acute care setting, we're going to see more of these medical assisting workers and nursing assistants — those kind of people — being in heavy demand."